Second Chances
by DragonRider122
Summary: Artemis' death gave Jade a second chance at her family, and she's not about to let it go to waste. Especially now that Artemis is alive. Rated for language.


**DISCLAIMER: YJ doesn't belong to me. Shocker.**

**THIS NEW EP HOLY CRAP I CAN'T EVEN. I loved everything about it, especially how Jade could feel Artemis there and Lawrence couldn't. And the end, oh my God! I was really hoping Jade and Paula would reconcile, so that made me super happy.**

**Okay, enough with me fangirling. Enjoy!**

* * *

Honestly, the first thing Jade wants to do when she sees Artemis is kick her little sister's ass and then hug her and make her promise to never pull such a fucking idiotic stunt like that ever again. But Crusher is standing right there along with Fishboy and the Martian, so Jade settles for snapping at Black Manta's son and then her own father when he, in typical dumbass Lawrence Crock fashion, loudly denies the fact that his youngest is alive and well.

(Jade doesn't know why she expected more from the man—twenty-five years have apparently taught her nothing.)

She doesn't think about it much after the Martian releases them from her mind-world or whatever the hell it is—the most important thing is getting off Manta's ship in one piece so Lian isn't stuck with Roy Clueless Harper for the rest of her life. Jade loves her husband dearly, but it took him an hour to figure out how to change a diaper for God's sake. She can only imagine what disaster would occur were he ever to attempt heating one of the little girl's bottles. But when Artemis is pinned beneath her smirking and teasing her, Jade almost—_almost_—slips. _Yes_, she wants to say, _I missed you and I'm sorry I was a fucking awful big sister and I swear that I'm going to protect you from now on because dammit, you're my little sister and I don't want to lose you. _But she can't say it, not now—they need to talk, Jade knows that, just at another time. So she rolls her eyes, telling Artemis that she only wants a babysitter for Lian. Artemis looks a little bit hurt, but Jade doesn't let it bother her—they'll get things straight eventually. She does, however, take the heartbeat before Artemis throws her off to grip her little sister's hand and squeeze—it's the only sign of weakness she allows herself. Artemis smiles the tiniest bit before tossing the older woman into a wall.

Just like old times.

* * *

The look on Paula's face as she stares at the photo of Artemis makes Jade grudgingly mumble a silent thank-you to Manta's son and the Martian for protecting their friend and keeping her safe this whole time. "Mom, I have some good news for you," she says, and her voice comes out far gentler than she meant it to. "News about Artemis." The flash of emotion in her mother's eyes makes Jade's throat tighten for an instant, and not for the first time she's incredibly grateful for deciding to come back. "Let me go put Lian down and we can talk."

After Lian is situated comfortably and Jade makes sure that her daughter is sleeping soundly, she heads back into the living room and sits down on the old couch that she watched TV on as a little girl. Paula is seated next to her, the photo of Artemis in her lap, and tears gently thread down her face as she touches her youngest daughter's face beneath its protective glass cover. Jade is again struck by how weary her mother looks and decides to have a few words with Nightwing the next day before slowly reaching out and setting a hand on Paula's knee. "_Mẹ_," she says softly, the word tasting strange on her tongue—it's been some time since she's spoken Vietnamese. Paula lifts her eyes to her daughter's and gives her head a sharp shake, setting the picture frame down and offering Jade a weak smile.

"I'm sorry, you wanted to tell me something, didn't you?" Her fingers tightly grip Jade's, and the ex-assassin wonders if she should be alarmed that it doesn't bother her. Jade takes a brief moment to outline the plan she and Crusher had made and tells her story up to the point where the Martian showed them flashbacks of the battle on the beach.

"Artemis is alive, Mom," Jade says quietly, her dark eyes locked onto Paula's identical ones. "Aqualad pretended to kill her so she could help him infiltrate the Light. She's on Manta's ship now under the name Black Tigress."

Paula freezes, her eyes going wide, and in them Jade recognizes what she herself felt when Aqualad told her the first time that her little sister wasn't dead: A desperate yearning to believe it, but also utter terror at the possibility that it might be a lie. She shifts position slightly, squeezing Paula's hand and repeating herself: "Artemis is_ alive_. I saw her myself, and she managed to convince Dad too—he couldn't feel her the way I could," she snorts, bitterness lacing her words. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; since when has he ever—"

She is cut off as Paula leans over and pulls her into a tight hug, face buried in her daughter's hair. Jade automatically tenses and has to remind herself that she's in no danger before gingerly linking her hands behind Paula's back and allowing her head to rest against the older woman's shoulder. It's a long time before Paula whispers, voice trembling, "Both of my daughters have been given back to me. I thought I had lost you forever."

Jade would answer, but there seems to be something stuck in her throat and blocking her voice, so she just smiles and tries to ignore that she's actually kind of starting to like getting hugged by her mother.

* * *

"Artemis."

It makes sense that Jade waited until the festivities were over before approaching her little sister. Artemis smiles and digs her toes into the sand, glancing over her shoulder at Jade and watching her older sister's hair ripple in the wind. "Hey, sis. I was kind of offended that you weren't at my coming-back party. You missed some great food, too."

"Artemis, we need to talk." Jade's arms are crossed and her expression is inscrutable, but there's something in her eyes that the younger girl can't quite read—a mixture of anxiety and something else. Artemis stands up, brushing the sand from her cutoffs and turning to face Jade with a cocked eyebrow. Her left shoulder aches; Deathstroke had stuck his sword in her during the last battle, and although the wound wasn't bad it still had gone almost to her bone. She gingerly massages the ball of muscle.

"If you're going to yell at me for being an idiot, save your breath. Black Canary almost brought the whole of Gotham down doing just that, and as scary as you are, you can't outdo her."

"Although you are an idiot and if you pull something like this again I'll skin you alive, that's not why I'm here." Jade pauses, and her hands fist on the long black sleeves of her shirt. "I….I should have been there. When we were growing up….it was my job to protect you. And I didn't."

Artemis stares—of everything her older sister could have said, this wasn't at all what she expected. "Jade—"

"I failed you, Artemis. And I'm sorry. When I thought you had died, I…"

"I know," Artemis says, and Jade's eyes lift to meet her little sister's. Artemis is smiling slightly as she goes on. "You were trying to avenge me. And even though it's pretty screwed up that it's your way of showing you care about me, I'll take it. Besides, when you left, it just convinced me more than ever that I didn't want that life—I didn't want to be like our parents. If you'd stayed, I would never have met Nightwing or Miss Martian or any of them. So it all worked out, you know?" She awkwardly shrugs a shoulder, and Jade can't hold back a grin.

"You suck at this."

"So do you!" Artemis retorts, and they look at each other and burst out laughing. Artemis leaps over to Jade and knocks her to the ground and then they're wrestling on the sand, and only when Jade accidentally jars Artemis' injured shoulder do they stop. Artemis, who managed to pin Jade down, flops to the ground chuckling, yelping slightly when her sister swats sand at her.

"You still haven't met your niece," Jade says after a moment.

"I still can't believe you have a daughter," Artemis grumbles, rolling onto her right side and propping her head on her hand before shooting Jade a glare. "What's her name?"

Jade smiles slightly. "Lian."

Artemis blinks. "…seriously?"

"I always liked your middle name," Jade shrugs.

"Yeah, but it's kind of creepy to give your daughter your little sister's middle name..."

"Oh, shut up," Jade snaps, and Artemis smirks back. They lie in silence for a while watching the stars turn overhead before the younger girl breaks it.

"Hey, Jade?"

"What?"

"Thanks."

"Yeah, well," Jade shrugs again, turning her head slightly so Artemis doesn't see her smile, "don't get used to it."


End file.
